<p>Facets can provide an interesting functionality in digital libraries. However, while some research shows facets are important, other research found<br>facets are only moderately used. Therefore, in this exploratory study we compare two search interfaces; one where the facets panel is always visible and one where the facets panel is hidden by default. Our main research question is “<em>Is folding the facets panel in a digital library search interface beneficial to academic users?</em>” By performing an eye tracking study with N=24, we measured search efficiency, distribution of attention and user satisfaction. We found no significant differences in the eye tracking data nor in usability feedback and<br>conclude that collapsing facets is neither beneficial nor detrimental.</p>
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